FreeBSD 14.3 Released (phoronix.com)
(Wednesday June 11, 2025 @03:00AM (BeauHD)
from the new-and-improved dept.)
- Reference: 0178001279
- News link: https://bsd.slashdot.org/story/25/06/10/2146224/freebsd-143-released
- Source link: https://www.phoronix.com/news/FreeBSD-14.3-Released
Michael Larabel of Phoronix highlights the key updates in [1]today's stable release of FreeBSD 14.3 :
> FreeBSD 14.3 has back-ported a number of improvements from FreeBSD 15 back to the FreeBSD 14 series. Plus a number of routine package updates and other fixes. Some of the FreeBSD 14.3-RELEASE highlights include:
>
> - Updating the ZFS support against OpenZFS 2.2.7.
> - Merging of the Realtek RTW88 and RTW89 WiFi drivers based on the Linux 6.14 kernel code.
> - The LinuxKPI code has been improved to support crypto offload as well as the 802.11n and 802.11ac standards.
> - The Intel IX Ethernet driver has added support for the x550 1000BAS-BX SFP modules.
> - Thor2 PCI IDs added to the Broadcom NetXtreme "BNXT" driver along with support for 400G speed modules.
> - XZ 5.8.1, OpenSSH 9.9p2, OpenSSL 3.0.16, and many other package updates.
> - Syscons as the legacy system console driver is now considered deprecated. Syscons is not compatible with UEFI, lacks UTF-8 support, and is Giant-locked.
You can download and learn more about FreeBSD 14.3 via [2]FreeBSD.org .
[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/FreeBSD-14.3-Released
[2] https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.3R/announce/
> FreeBSD 14.3 has back-ported a number of improvements from FreeBSD 15 back to the FreeBSD 14 series. Plus a number of routine package updates and other fixes. Some of the FreeBSD 14.3-RELEASE highlights include:
>
> - Updating the ZFS support against OpenZFS 2.2.7.
> - Merging of the Realtek RTW88 and RTW89 WiFi drivers based on the Linux 6.14 kernel code.
> - The LinuxKPI code has been improved to support crypto offload as well as the 802.11n and 802.11ac standards.
> - The Intel IX Ethernet driver has added support for the x550 1000BAS-BX SFP modules.
> - Thor2 PCI IDs added to the Broadcom NetXtreme "BNXT" driver along with support for 400G speed modules.
> - XZ 5.8.1, OpenSSH 9.9p2, OpenSSL 3.0.16, and many other package updates.
> - Syscons as the legacy system console driver is now considered deprecated. Syscons is not compatible with UEFI, lacks UTF-8 support, and is Giant-locked.
You can download and learn more about FreeBSD 14.3 via [2]FreeBSD.org .
[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/FreeBSD-14.3-Released
[2] https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.3R/announce/
Sweet (Score:2)
by ArchieBunker ( 132337 )
Going to update my zpool array this weekend. The same machine also runs a pi hole VM using the bhyve hypervisor.
Wi-Fi (Score:5, Interesting)
The note there about Wi-Fi doesn't convey just how large of an improvement that actually is.
From testing tonight, I went from ~10-15mbps on Wi-Fi on 14.2 to about 250mbps on 14.3.
This is a massive overhaul of the entire Wi-Fi subsystem within FreeBSD, and its continuing to be improved upon even further on FreeBSD 15 in development right now.
Yeah, this isn't breaking any benchmarks with its current performance, but it certainly went from "absolutely sluggish and rubbish" to "perfectly usable for daily tasks" in a single revision.
Re: (Score:3)
A few years ago I tried to use an older version of FreeBSD on a RPi 4 but the OS didn't have Wi-Fi support for Pi boards. Has the status for this changed with AArch64/ARM64?
In other words, would you know if they got it working and this page is now out of date, or is Wi-Fi still unsupported?
[1]https://wiki.freebsd.org/arm/R... [freebsd.org]
[1] https://wiki.freebsd.org/arm/Raspberry%20Pi#What_works
Re: Wi-Fi (Score:2)
Iâ(TM)m missing some context here because this just makes FreeBSD sound completely out dated.
Seriously?? (Score:2)
WiFi should have been a solved problem 10-15 years ago if not earlier. If FreeBSD is ever hoping to keep up linux it really needs to sort itself out. I ran FreeBSD 6 back in the day but eventually gave up on it because Linux just powered on ahead not just in usability and functionaluity but ease of install and setup and that matters not just for Gary Gamers laptop but also in the server room and on VMs.